Once you reach Age 10, Edward loses some steam against all those maxed out towers, cannons, etc. He has a weak heart and often dies before he can deliver the death blow to the keep. So, in other words, at Age 10 you won't see too many Edward combinations. Most players abandon heroes they use at early ages, and resort to the mind-numbing point and click of Conrad/Martel.

There are a few of us that work on computers 8-10 hours a day, so moving the mouse or toggling back and forth is no big deal. No software needed. For me, I have done this only when I was chasing crowns. But chasing crowns at this point is no longer appealing, so I don't bother.

The grey crowns "ghosted" are new players in the alliance and their crowns are not included in the current season. They will be active for the following season--and the crowns will become white, like the rest of the alliance.

Likely, the timer to open the battle chests expired during or just after your attack (including just as you are returning to your home screen with your layout). This happens to me a lot, as I forget to check how much time I have left to open them. In the future, you may want to check the timer to see if you have time to complete a battle, and still have time to spare to open them--otherwise don't start your battle until the timer resets. As for being ripped off … it is a free game.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you can recover without major surgery. Don't worry about this forum--certainly nothing important going on here. I recommend you find that comfortable couch, margaritas (or equivalent pain meds), several pillows, ice, remote control, Netflix. margaritas, phone turned off (in a drawer), margaritas …
Get Well.

@cast assassin, don't mind @east puppet, he's being sarcastic, which doesn't always translate in posts--especially without the corresponding graphics that are normally presented . Most of us agree with all your points, but unfortunately, updates in this version of the game are unlikely. Read through some of the suggestions in the AoE CS General Discussion thread. Lots of great ideas that have been buried under years of dust. Anyway, welcome to the forum and happy sieging!

@Baroness Von Panda While I certainly don't know any details other than what is posted above regarding changing an emperor--30 days is pretty quick. I would be extremely ticked off if someone booted me (as emperor) after only a month's absence.

You can only see a listing of total troops donated by each player. Many alliances ask each member to contribute in some way--troops and/or resources. To track the resources, I ask my alliance members to write in Chat, "donated x 1" or more. I then track on my own the donations by each member. I do this to know which players are worth retaining in the alliance--those that don't help, get the boot.

I often "white flag" after getting a star or two. It depends on whether I believe there is more I can accomplish without wasting troops/heroes. Then I can use them for the next battle. Especially after taking out the keep (1 star), getting 50% (1 star), and maybe 60% (2nd battle chest)--then use the white flag, unless you really need the resources or are sure you can get 100% for a 3rd star.
There is no penalty for using the white flag UNLESS you've started the battle--then you had better be sure to at least get a star.
As I believe is mentioned, using the white flag is also a good way to test whether a Revenge battle is available. You don't even have to have all your troops trained--just try to revenge, and if you can--white flag it--go back and speed train your troops--and then do your revenge.

@RayAcevedo Welcome to the forum. The best part of the game is that it is absolutely free to play. You can get gold by connecting your roads, finding spys, or opening chests after battles. I have been playing for a couple of years now, and battle multiple times a day--I have never had to buy gold. And I have 1000s saved if I want to speed train troops. Just take your time with upgrades--do not hurry through the game. Spend gold only on speed training--then battle to gain resources AND more gold!